Blog
As a curious observer of life, I blog on writing, marketing, my prairie - anything that interests me in the moment. I like to have conversations with readers, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I'll respond.
We are in the third, maybe fourth, year of drought here in Iowa. Capricious rains tease us into thinking the drought may be over, but there’s no denying the affect of too little water on…
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When we planted our prairie patch 10 years ago, one goal was to provide butterfly habitat. In the ensuing years, we’ve seen an uptick in pollinators. Bees of many varieties. A wealth of dragonflies. Yet…
Read MoreThere are NO vegetables. Everything we call a vegetable is actually a fruit. So said the host of the TV show On The Spot this past weekend. What? I’m a farm kid. I grew up…
Read MoreMy gardens tend toward shade plants with one exception, a pot that sits on the one consistently sunny point of our deck. That pot is planted with geraniums. Always geraniums. They like sun. They’re easy.…
Read MoreEvery grave holds a story. That’s one of the reasons I’m drawn to cemeteries. So many lives. So many stories. Yet we know so little. Only tiny bits of information. Names that may suggest country…
Read MoreZucchini has a bad reputation for producing far more than anyone can eat. Not so much in my garden. For us, the producers are cucumbers and tomatoes. Since I’m bringing in a large colander loaded…
Read MoreSweeps of purple hyacinths. Multitudes of candy apple red, neon yellow, and peppermint stripped tulips. Majestic blue and white flag irises. A host of golden daffodils. Like magic, every spring my garden fills with this…
Read MoreOkay, I know it’s hot. Predicted to be 107 degrees today. I know it’s dry. The driest in Iowa since the 1950s. There can hardly be a soul out there who wouldn’t like to see…
Read MoreEvery morning I grab a big colander and head out to bring in whatever the garden has to offer. For the past week or so, I’ve been getting about a half dozen or so cucumbers…
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